- Title: USA: George Clooney premieres "The Descendants" in Beverly Hills
- Date: 16th November 2011
- Summary: MATTHEW LILLARD TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) MATTHEW LILLARD, SAYING: "I like to give him [Clooney] a lot of business. Because I got his wife, George Clooney's wife. I took her, from him. That's the greatest part ever written." CINDY CRAWFORD POSING FOR PICTURES AMARA MILLER POSING FOR PHOTOS WIDE OF CLOONEY TALKING TO MEDIA
- Embargoed: 1st December 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa, Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA9NNTXG9MTDVOSL6EZ0GMRT50Y
- Story Text: George Clooney was in good spirits as he took his time on the red carpet in Beverly Hills for "The Descendants."
In the film, Clooney plays Hawaiian real-estate lawyer Matt King, whose wife falls into a coma after a serious boating accident. With the accident, King must now take care of the couple's two daughters on his own: 17-year-old boarding school rebel Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and 10-year-old troublemaker Scottie (Amara Miller).
Then he finds out that his was having an affair at the time of her accident. King is understandably incensed by the discovery, but he also is curious to find out who this guy is, and his bumbling attempts at casual stalking provide some much-needed comic relief. And on top of all of that, King's enormous family has put him in charge of deciding what to do with the 25,000 acres of pristine land on Kauai that they have inherited from their royal Hawaiian ancestors.
The comedy-drama, which is adapted and directed by Alexander Payne, the location of Hawaii has as much a starring role in the film as the real life actors.
Clooney talked about how the island culture took some getting used to.
"We were there for quite a few days before we started shooting just to get the right rhythms because it's very .. it's island rhythms. It's very different," said Clooney. "It was hard to get in to, but it took me about ten days. But once you're into it, it's sort of easy and you're also happy to come back and get in the mad race a little bit too."
Payne, who is best known for "Sideways" and "Election," put a lot of time and effort into getting the island feel just right.
"As soon as I decided to make this into a film, I not only dived in to the book but I started doing fact-finding missions to Hawaii," said Payne. "And using the writer as my guide to open doors for me and introduce me to her world, that's how we began the process of the search."
The film is already getting some attention for the upcoming awards season. Clooney joked that he picked the right director.
"At this point [Payne's] done five films, and he's five-for-five. So I wanted to work with him. It's really good odds," said Clooney. "And then I read the screen play and I couldn't believe my luck because I thought it was a really great part, great movie too."
"The Descendants" opens in the U.S. on November 16. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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